


Teach Us How to Say Goodbye

by xcourtney_chaoticx



Category: Emergency!
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Goodbyes, not forever though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 09:58:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15905991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xcourtney_chaoticx/pseuds/xcourtney_chaoticx
Summary: set the day of John and Roy's promotion to captain as seen in 'Greatest Rescues of Emergency'Just a nice little ensemble piece about all the guys





	Teach Us How to Say Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Madilayn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madilayn/gifts).



> this is from a tumblr prompt given to me by Madilayn :)
> 
> exact prompt was: "getting reqady for a formal occasion. OK - not an OTP but the 51 crew helping Johnny and Roy get dressed in their formal uniforms for their Captains ceremony. (as a bonus - did you know that it was a tradition in LACounty for the crew to paint the skunk stripe on the helmet of a fellow crew member who's been promoted to Captain)"
> 
> and i was never more ready to write something!
> 
> (typed today and unbeta'd)

He calls Roy frantically in the morning, telling him, “Roy, I can’t find my dress uniform! How- Why can’t I find my dress uniform?”

“ _I dunno, Johnny… but it’s weird._ ”

“Of course it’s weird! I didn’t do anything with it!”

“ _I mean it’s weird because I can’t find mine, either._ ”

“You can’t find yours either? That’s-… I-… Roy, who the hell would break into our houses and _only_ take our dress uniforms?”

“ _That’s an excellent question… and somehow I think we’ll get an answer at the station,_ ” Roy says calmly.

John doesn’t how Roy can be so calm. Their promotion ceremony is in four hours, and if they show up without dress uniforms, they’ll be laughed right out of the department. Still, he follows Roy’s advice and heads to Station 51. Something twists in his chest when he pulls up. This station has been like a second home for almost ten years. _And now I gotta go try to make somewhere else feel like home…_ He shakes the dark thoughts from his mind. Not everybody gets promoted to captain, and not right from paramedic. It’s an honor he and Roy have been given (as well as Brice and Bellingham) and so he’s doing his best to be happy.

“Roy… what’re Mike and Marco doing here?”

Mike was promoted to captain last year, and Marco to engineer not long after that, both leaving 51s for other stations.

“I’m not really sure, but I’m guessing we’ll find out when we get inside.”

Their shift got the day off to attend the promotion ceremony, and the replacement shift is out on a run. There’s no one in the bay, no one in the office, no one in the dayroom, no one in the kitchen.

“They’re not even in the locker room… Where are they?”

“Well, only place left to look is the dorm.”

Roy leads the way, pushing open the door. Four surprised faces look up at them.

“Hey, you fellas are early!” Chet complains.

“Yeah,” Marco adds, “we weren’t expecting you to figure it all out for another half hour.”

“Figure what out?” Johnny and Roy ask together.

“That your uniforms were missing, of course,” Cap tells them, “I gotta say, that took some pretty tough espionage. Joanne’s a great accomplice, Roy.”

“Of course! She’s the only one with a key to both places.”

“Wait a minute, I’m still confused!”

“Oh, we know you are, John.”

“Shut up, Chet, I’m- I mean- Why did you guys take our uniforms?”

“To help you get ready.”

Mike’s voice is quiet and warm and steady, just as it always has been, and he continues, “Remember what you guys did for me, painting the skunk stripe on my helmet for me?”

“Well, yeah, of course we remember,” John says, “We were real happy for ya, real proud of ya.”

“We’re proud of you fellas, too, so we wanted to make this special,” Mike smiles.

“Yeah, you two are like family. We thought it would be nice to help you get all dressed up and ready,” Chet agrees.

John feels a lump rising in his throat, one he tries to swallow down. _Family… they’re family._

“Come on, hurry up and get dressed,” Marco says, “We gotta get you to the ceremony on time, y’know.”

John and Roy snap out of their emotions and manage to get changed into their dress uniforms, which also appear to have been freshly dry-cleaned, and then step back out in front of their friends. No one says anything. The other four men, captain included, step up to help them adjust collars and the like. John marvels at the little rank stripe on each sleeve, the new metal insignias on the collar, his badge polished to a fine shine. The lump is back in his throat.

Chet steps in front of him, straightening his tie, whispers, “You’re gonna be fine, John. You’re gonna be great.”

“What if I mess up?” he murmurs back, “What if I fail?”

“Everyone messes up, babe. You think Cap never messed up? Think Mike never messed up? You’re allowed to mess up, and you probably will… but you won’t fail. You never do, not when it’s important, not when it’s the job.”

“I’m startin’ to think you might like me, Chet,” John jokes softly.

“Yeah, I can see where ya might think that.”

They share a look, both knowing damn well they’re as close as two people could be, always trying to pretend they don’t care that much for each other when they would die for each other. John quickly pulls Chet into a hug, fighting off his tears, and he hears Chet swallow hard, clearly battling his own emotions. _I don’t wanna lose him… don’t wanna leave him…_ He clutches at him a little tighter, knowing he’ll see him again but also knowing they may never work together again.

When they finally let go of each other, it starts a round of hugs, making sure to make his friendship known and offering wisdom for John and Roy’s new position. Then, of course, there’s one last presentation to make.

“Hey, you fellas did a pretty good job,” Roy says, taking his helmet from Marco.

“Yeah, these look incredible! Chet, did you do these ones, too?”

“Mike said I did such a good job on his, I might as well do both of yours,” Chet replies, “Just one of my many hidden skills.”

John holds his helmet almost reverently, looking over the new stripe on it, able to see the brush strokes left by Chet. It makes everything very real. _I’ll probably never work here again, not with all these guys… this same group won’t ever be in the field together again-_

“I just wanna tell you fellas,” John finally says, his voice thick and quiet, “how much ya mean to me… and-… and I’m gonna miss bein’ able to work with y’all and see ya all the time. Just-… I wouldn’t have got here without all of you.”

Looking up, John sees wet eyes and soft, sad smiles.

“I couldn’t have said it any better,” Roy agrees.

A quiet moment passes in the small dorm, the six firemen all thinking about the future and the past, thinking of where they’ll go from here, thinking of the next time they might all see each other, thinking of how much they all care for each other. When the moment is over, Cap clears his throat, saying, “Alright now, fellas, we gotta get you over to the ceremony. Won’t look good if you’re late to your own promotion ceremony.”

Chet speaks up, “Yeah, we could all head over in the wagon-“

“NO,” the rest of them chorus, all grinning.

Chet just smirks and shrugs, and they all head outside to the parking lot, John and Roy clutching both their new white dress hats and their more cherished helmets.


End file.
